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What exactly does Derek Lillywhite do at the end of his "Cornish Dance" recording to pull off that neat effect? I've slowed it down and listened closely but for the life of me I can't figure out…Continue

Here's something to ponder. I recall a (probably apocryphal?) story about Sigismond Thalberg and the banjo, which seems to have been taken up by a number of banjoists in the mid-late 19th century,…Continue

I got the idea for this discussion after it was asked whether or not the balalaika was relevant in the realm of Classic Banjo. This is a thought-provoking observation as, for some reason, I had…Continue

Mike Moss's Blog

So I was having a look at my old Dallas -- with its old, dry head, and its excessively high action -- and decided that something needed to be done.

Thing is, this banjo looks like it might be a bit troublesome. As I mentioned earlier, I had fixed a major crack in the dowel stick, but the dowel stick is poorly set (the heel doesn't make contact with the pot) which means I will probably have to remove the dowel stick, scrap it, and make a new one... so I'll need some advice as…

I just found out a way to get a really neat, cheap and effective banjo mute, which dampens the sound consideraby. Ever since I switched from nylguts to Christ Sands heavies + Ren head, combined with my hard picking, my banjo has become enormously loud -- and I love it! Still, sometimes I need to produce a quieter sound than the ear-piercing roar of my killing machine, so I just put on a cheap Tourte violin mute I had lying around -- and it works! Just pop it between the second and third…

It's been a while since I last posted here, so I might as well post a few updates. There have been a few developments in the past few weeks which have taken time away from my banjo studies, namely that I got a pretty good job (which means... no, not more money to spend on banjos... must... not... spend on banjos!) and that I seem to have come down with the flu for the past few days so banjo playing isn't as pleasant as usual.

Hi Mike, Yes. I am browsing for music that might be well-suited for my Transcribers Art column in Soundboard. Classical banjo seems to have a rich and catchy repertoire that guitarists might enjoy exploring. Any composers or compositions that you can suggest?

Thanks for the tips. The aufio files are great. The scores on this site are a bit confusing, though. Some include a single part labeled 'solo,' others have, in addition, '2nd banjo' and/or 'piano accompaniment.' Are the 2nd banjo and piano parts alternative accompaniments? Are some of the pieces with only one part 'available' all true solos or are accompaniment parts just missing? Are any of the pieces clearly true solos? Some banjo 'accompaniments' are as elaborate as the 'solo' part and different from the 'piano accompaniment.' So it's unclear to me what is required, what is optional, and what is missing.

I have question about notation. In the Library scores I see instances of, for instance, beamed eighth-notes with the stems down, but with an occasional added upward stem and sixteenth note flag. You can see several on the top line of Morley's 'Mixed Grill'. I assume they are something banjo-specific as I have not seen them before.

Perhaps I may jump in first? In banjo music the open 5th string (G) is signified by adding the upward tail to the note (as you see in Mixed Grill). This distinguishes the open 5th string from a G fretted at other positions... simples!!